Young Runner Sees Herself In Olympic Gold Medalist

Mid-distance runner Farah Santiago De Leon, 12, sat next to world-renowned Olympic athlete Alexis Holmes and looked into the future — imagining the athletic feats that she, too, might one day achieve.

Farah and audience members asked their most burning questions to the two-time record-holder sprinter at the Stetson Branch library at 197 Dixwell Ave. Thursday night. 

The event, which lasted two hours and attracted three dozen attendees, consisted of a Q&A session, autographs, and pictures with Holmes.

Farah runs with the New Haven Age Group Track Club (NHAGTC), where Holmes — a Hamdenite — also got her start. 

“Did you have moments where you wanted to stop running, and how did you push through?” Farah asked.

“I’ll be honest, there have been times where I was going through a lot of adversity, or challenges even, and I did have those doubts and thoughts of wanting to quit or give up, and I think that’s okay sometimes,” Holmes responded. ​“It takes that [adversity] to realize what you love about the sport and to come back to the reason why you started.”

Holmes’s mother, Dawn Stanton, had introduced Holmes to the crowd. Holmes played a variety of sports throughout her early teen years, such as volleyball, basketball, and lacrosse, before choosing to pursue track in college. 

Holmes’s accolades are extensive: she most recently won the gold medal in the 4x400m relay in the 2024 Olympics.

Farah admitted that she was nervous to interview Holmes, but as the night continued, her jitters went away.

Like mother, like daughter — a love for track runs in the De Leon family. Now a seventh grader at Hamden Middle School, Farah has been running since she was 7. After participating in a kids’ fun run at her elementary school, Farah was hooked, looking for her next challenge. 

“It was fun, but I felt like I could do more. My mom, at the time, was running the 5k, and I said, ​‘Mom, next year, I want to do that.’”

Wanting to fuel her daughter’s interests, Alondra De Leon signed Farah up for NHAGTC in 2019. She currently runs the 800 and 1500 meters and is also exploring doing the 400-meter events. The family soon plans to enroll their youngest, Maxwell Santiago de Leon, in NHAGTC to follow in their running footsteps.

Alondra advocated for track as a sport because of its emphasis on personal growth and discipline, noting the positive and supportive environment of NHAGTC. 

“What we like about running in particular is the fact that it focuses on performance, so it has very little to do with what you look like. It has everything to do with how you perform and it’s always [about] competing with yourself and your best time from last time,” she said. 

“Running is a mind game of physical endurance, they learn through practice, but those races are really all about getting them in the right mindset,” she continued.

While Stetson Branch Library Director Diane Brown isn’t a sports fanatic, she recalled avidly cheering for Holmes on TV during the Paris Olympics. To Brown, Holmes’s presence provided a role model for youth by highlighting her dedication and discipline to the sport, her academic accomplishments, and a long list of achievements in her early adulthood. 

“She came here last Friday to do a walk through with her mother and her grandmother. I cried when she walked in the door,” Brown said.

Robert Kinney, public service administrator for NHFPL, agreed. ​“It’s an honor,” he said, to have someone represent ​“Black excellence.” 

“It almost goes back to like Joe Louis,” he said, referencing the late 20th-century African American boxer. ​“You kind of get that feeling of pride, especially what’s happening in the world today; that feeling of pride that we have her to really excel and be an example to a lot of young little girls … and we need that.”

Last night also marked the first gift of the Stetson Star Award, an exclusive award designated by the Stetson Library Branch to celebrate notable community figures. Brown said that the award plaques are all made downtown at Ives Squared in the Ives Main Library. The award is presented through a diploma cover and features a watercolor image of Stetson Library alongside the award certificate. The first awardee this year is Holmes. 

“I feel really proud. I feel celebrated, loved, and cared for,” Holmes’s mom, Dawn Stanton, said after the Q&A. ​“I think just because of the way that the community in a variety of different spaces have just opened their arms to inviting Alexis and the curiosity about her story.

“Just seeing how she’s been able to inspire so many people. It’s just really heartwarming.”